Making Water

One Texoma man has found an interesting way to conserve water while watering his vegetable garden during the drought by collecting water from his air conditioner.

Joe Orender, who refers to himself as a gardening engineer, was at a local grocery store when he saw water coming out of the building and into the lawn making a mud hole. The water going into the ground, gave Orender an idea.

"I knew that the air conditioner made water, which goes into the sewer. It's not of any use, so I thought why not use this water," said Orender.

Orender's air conditioner makes six to eight gallons of water a day.

"The condensed water in the air conditioner comes through this little white pipe and it drips into this container. When it fills up, it goes out this little hose," said Orender.

The water in the hose, then goes through the wall and outside to a pump which Orender built himself from leftover parts.

"When I turn it on, it will pump it to a barrel right behind that corner. I'll save it until I open a valve to send it to the garden," said Orender.

The water from the pump then goes into a 55 gallon barrel, which Orender controls by valves either going into his garden or into gallon sized jugs.

"I could not grow this garden without doing what I'm doing," said Orender.

In addition to collecting water from the air conditioner, Orender collects rainwater and gray water which comes from his house.

Orender encourages everyone to collect water this way. He believes by doing so, Texoma residents could save hundreds of thousands of gallons of water.

Orender has collected around 10,000 gallons of water just from his air conditioner and shower within the course of a year.

We are less than ten days away from the Hotter’N Hell Hundred and riders are not the only one preparing for race day. Law enforcement is preparing to make race day a safe day for everyone. Safety has always been a top concern for everyone involved with the Hotter'N Hell Hundred and officers across Texoma start planning months in advance.

We are less than ten days away from the Hotter’N Hell Hundred and riders are not the only one preparing for race day. Law enforcement is preparing to make race day a safe day for everyone. Safety has always been a top concern for everyone involved with the Hotter'N Hell Hundred and officers across Texoma start planning months in advance.